Stardew Valley meets Zelda in free PlayStation Plus banger

There will always be some great games that get overlooked on the PlayStation Plus service - there are simply so many games it’s easy to focus on the big hitters. One of the often missed games is Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin but I’m here to say you simply have to make time to play this.

If you like your action games to have a rhythm and flow, this side-scroller will easily scratch that itch. You’ll find a lovely mix of battling and farming giving a great all-round experience dressed in gorgeous comic book styling.

With PlayStation Plus cloud streaming, you can play anything, anywhere

In this world of Gods and Demons, Sakuna is a harvest goddess who finds herself banished to an island of demons. She must destroy the demons while tending a farm for human companions, all while rediscovering her birthright. It’s a quirky little game steeped in brilliant Japanese mythology and legend.

The combat is very fluid, chaining together attacks with quick attacks, heavy blows, and special abilities. Because the action takes place in a side-scrolling platformer there’s a cheeky balance between fighting and traversal using a grapple which allows you to move around the monstrous demons.

Away from battling monsters, Sakuna will be tending a farm to grow crops and harvest materials which are crafted into armour and weapons. “Sakuna’s mortal companions make weapons, armor, and meals for her using the materials and ingredients she gathers on her adventures, and completing quests for them will unlock even more options.”

While Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin isn’t particularly innovative, it does the job brilliantly well and looks lush doing so. You should put some time aside to give this a spin; it’s totally free if you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber and it should only take you around 30 hours to finish the story off.